Post by Nauren on Sept 16, 2008 8:46:29 GMT -5
Basics
Developer: Media Molecule (and you)
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform: PS3
Players: 1-4
Release Date: 21 Oct (North America), 29 Oct (Europe), 30 Oct (Japan)
Core Premise
Creative Gameplay. Multiplayer 2D side-scrolling platform/action/adventure/puzzle game carved in a craft-world aesthetic. 1-4 players locally or online or any combination in between. 50+ levels designed by Media Molecule for 'LittleBigStory'.
Some videos from LittleBigStory levels:
Wheel of Doom Pt1
Wheel of Doom Pt2
Elephant Temple
Trampoline
CES Fire Level Pt1
CES Fire Level Pt2
The Tundra Base
Edenburgh Gameplay with dissolving and spawning platforms
Tutorial Level
Garden and Cave Level
Dangerous Descent & The Construction Yard (With Boss)
The Wedding Reception
Meerkat Kingdom
Japan Level
Skulldozer
Controls
You control Sackboy. Sackboy is a burlap-skinned, button-eyed avatar that's both the star of game, and a game designer himself.
Left-stick - Move
Right-stick - Arm Movement (hold L2 and R2 for individual arm movement with both sticks)
X - Jump (tap for hop, hold for longer jump)
R1 - Grab
Tilt - Head Movement
D-Pad - Emotions (up: happy, right: angry, down: sad, left: nervous - press multiple times for more intense emotion)
Square - Show Popit
Though LittleBigPlanet is a 2D game, there are multiple depth layers in the world. 3 such layers can be navigated by Sackboy. Several other layers can be used for purely decorative purposes. Sackboy can move between layers by pushing up and down on the left stick to push in and out of the screen.
The 'Big'
LittleBigPlanet is not only a wonderful-looking standalone game. It is also a simple, but powerful creative tool and platform, aimed at providing an optimum tradeoff between accessibility and creative flexibility.
A tap of the square button reveals Popit - half thought-bubble, half kite, with which Sackboy can manipulate and design the world around him. He can place objects, resize them, reorientate them, reshape them, paint them, stamp them with stickers, design costumes and more. He can start with existing premade objects, or create new ones from scratch from fundamental shapes and building blocks. Dynamic behaviour and logic are added to objects via connectors and switches (see below for more).
Players can share their creations - whatever they may be - with the rest of the userbase via a system heavily influenced by 'Web 2.0' creative communities such as YouTube and Flickr. Players will be able to play with each others creations, 'heart' them if they like them, tag them, flag them for moderation if inappropriate and so on. Players will also be able to take and share in-game screenshots, that will automatically be tagged with players present in the shots. Media Molecule has talked about making these screenshots viewable online via a website, and shareable with RSS feeds. A reward system will highlight players' strengths in the areas of playing, creating and sharing, along with Trophy support. Media Molecule views LittleBigPlanet's release as just the beginning of a long-lived platform for user creativity, and they plan to fully support it and add to it based on community feedback.
The range of options in terms of what to create are entirely left to the player to choose. Some players may simply make new stickers, some might tinker with machines and contraptions, others with mini-games or whole levels and games. Some may indeed not make anything game related at all, and use LittleBigPlanet as a kind of physical website or space.
Popit
Popit is the menu system Sackboy uses to create things. There are two versions - a full version for the game's Create mode, and a more limited version for Play mode. In Play mode you can only customise your character and use stickers and decorations - this to avoid players using the more extensive editing and create tools to cheat in levels
To give you an idea of creative possibilities, the latest version of Popit includes the following building blocks to play with. The list is by no means exhaustive. Everything you use is mapped to physical objects in the world to aid with understanding and accessibility.
Materials
In your Goodie Bag is a section for Materials. A variety of materials to build with, from cardboard, to stone, to glass, to metal etc. You carve your materials using a range or provided shapes (such as circle, square, triangle, heart, cross, arrow etc.), a long with a cutting tool for deleting from your material.
Different materials have different physical properties. Some might be heavy, for example, and require multiple Sackboys to move. Materials can be glued to surfaces to prevent movement, or can use a special 'Dark Matter' material to hover. They can also have other properties applied to them (see Functions).
From the latest build, Quaz51 counts 137 different types of material, each with 20 shapes for modeling.
Stickers & Decorations
A plethora of images and decorative items to stick on object surfaces. This category also includes functionality to capture images from the Playstation Eye and embed them as stickers in your creations.
Costume Pieces
A wide variety of bits and bobs to attach to every part of your Sackboy, from hats to glasses to teeth to wigs and so on. In the latest videos there is mention of over 500 different costume pieces.
Backgrounds
Players can swap in and out different backgrounds, e.g. garden, street-scene and so on. Players can also adjust things like lighting and fog.
Connectors
String
Elastic
Spring
Piston
Motorised Bolt
Bolt
Rod
Winch
..
Explosives
Do what they say on the tin. Some materials are destructable.
Switches
Button - simple switch, press to activate
Two-way - a two position switch (e.g. a light switch)
Three-way - as two-way, but with a central position it springs back to when not in use (i.e. a lever)
Magnetic - a pair of switches, which act as lock and key. When brought together, it activates. Pairs are colour coded, you have to bring the right corresponding key to the switch to activate
Sticker - a switch which activates when stickers defined by you are applied to a surface
Proximity - a switch with customisable range that activates when Sackboy is within range
Grab - a switch that activates when grabbed
Switches are linked to the objects they are intended to activate by wires, which disappear when you switch from edit to play mode.
Functions
Fire - puts a material on fire. Fire doesn't spread from material to material, if you were wondering. Will singe a Sackboy..if in contact for too long will kill him.
Electricity - electrifies a material, electrocuting any wayward Sackboy
Ice - turns material to ice. With prolonged exposure can freeze and kill Sackboy.
Gas - turns material to poisonous gas
Dissolve - makes a material dissolve after a defined period.
Gameplay Kits
These include objects for defining the beginning of a level, the end of a level, start and end points for races, end-of-level leaderboards, respawn points and so forth.9
Audio Speakers
Want audio in your level? Then just add some speakers. Speakers can emit provided music or sound effects. They can be tied to switches to activate only under certain conditions. Multiple speakers can be used, each emitting a different part of a piece of music, allowing the player to control instruments used in the piece, for example.
Quaz51 has provided this snapshot of the Music Settings menu in the Popit, from the latest build:
It shows 22 songs, 8 pieces of interactive music (editable as described above), and 9 sound effects or type of sound effect.
Text Bubbles
You can pop up notes to players, or have NPCs 'talk' using text bubbles to which you can add..text.
Object System
When you create an object, you can package it up as a template to share with other users. You could embed the object in your level as a reward for players. This system scales from stickers to individual objects to whole levels. The idea here is to help people create things without having to reinvent the wheel. Some people might become well known for their vehicle mechanisms, for example, that others can take and build upon rather than starting themselves from scratch. A whole range of commonly useful mechanisms and contraptions are likely to spread throughout the community like this. Your Popit has a swag bag for storing all the stuff you collect.
Tweak Tool
This tool can be applied to a variety of things to give more detailed control over the properties of an object. For example, when applied to a motor-bolt it gives you options to adjust speed, strength, direction. Or when applied to rope, it allows you to adjust elasticisty, minimum and maximum length, strength (rope can break) and so forth.
Misc
Some things worth noting that don't neatly fit in to the above:
Spawning objects. It seems there is a way to set up an emitter for objects, including some level of randomisation. Videos have shown explosive bullets being spawned from 'cannons' in one level, and apparently random platforms spawning to create a path in another level.
Various other objects are available for use via Popit that fall under various categories, including cogs, wheels, rockets, helium baloons and lots more.
Some videos of various creations from the developers, the beta and showfloor players:
Leipzig Time-Lapse Vid Of People Making Stuff
More Leipzig Time-Lapse
Moving, Jumping, Firing Tank
Binary Machine
Flipper Tower
Music Machine
Rocket Car
Edinburgh Creation Pt 1
Edinburgh Creation Pt 2
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I chain levels together to form my own story?
Yes. When you create a level you are given a key for that level. You could embed it at the end of another level so that players who finish your level can then access the next. This system could also be used to make a hub for different levels, for example for a collection of levels in one 'game' or as a aggregator for levels you like etc.
Can Sackboy die?
Yes. Dangerous materials, like fire and electricity can kill Sackboy. Sackboy can also be squashed, or killed by other objects such as spikes. Sackboy will respawn at the nearest respawn point, which will count down remaining lives. When Sackboy is on his last life, the respawn point will flash red. If you die then, you'll have to start the level from scratch. In their own levels, players will be able to place respawn points where they wish and control number of spawns to manipulate difficulty.
What happens if someone puts penises in their levels? (And other nasties)
When published, a level is available immediately. However, if but one person flags a level as inappropriate it is temporarily taken offline while it is checked by moderators at Sony who have tools to do a quick scan of level elements.
Is there a limit to how many levels I can publish?
Yes. Each user will have limited server space. 'Really good' creators can be rewarded with more space.
Are there enemies?
Yes. MediaMolecule has revealed A.I. brains, a mechanism for imbuing objects with behaviour and the capacity to die. When Sackboy captures an enemy's brain, it dies. Examples of brains mentioned so far include a simple patrolling enemy brain, and a multi-brain enemy that requires all brains to be captured before the enemy dies. The game will ship with several types of brain, and of course, more will be added over time. Between brains and the other components available, some very sophisticated enemies and boss type enemies are possible.
Can I embed my own music in my levels?
Currently no. You can however manipulate provided audio. Music and sound effects are output via speakers you place in your level. You can control which speakers emit which instruments, have music kick in at certain points and so on.
Can I use my own pictures from my hard drive?
Currently no. The only confirmed way to get your own images into LBP is via Playstation Eye.
Can't I cheat my way through levels by using Popit?
No. It seems in play mode that the Popit is restricted to things like Stickers. You can't start modifying the level to make it easier for you or whatnot. There's been mention that a level creator can designate areas in their level where a player is allowed free use of Popit.
Will I be able to get a Sackboy plushie?
Yes. Sony has said there will be LBP merchandise. Update - See the Latest News section below for some new details.
Is there going to be a beta?
Apparently so. There will be a limited public beta in September. More details to follow.
Can you copy a level to a Memory Stick or USB drive and share it with a friend or copy it to a PC for upload to the Internet?
Currently no, but maybe down the line.
Can everyone on one PS3 log into their own PSN account profiles? And if so will everyone get trophies?
Yes and Yes
Can users make their own videos to embed into levels, like with the game's tutorial videos?
No. But Youtube uploading remains a possibility for the future.
North America Box Art
European Box Art
Bundle Pack
recommend it 